


The Prince And The Pauper

by PAPERSK1N



Series: One shots/Ficlets [13]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mavin, Modern Royalty, Modern Royalty AU, Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:17:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3305393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PAPERSK1N/pseuds/PAPERSK1N
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Modern Royalty: AU)</p><p>Gavin Free is the young prince of England. He meets Michael Jones for the first time on a school trip that isn't really a school trip, and he loves him instantly.</p><p>Because Michael is one of the first people, ever, to look him straight in the eyes and not realize who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prince And The Pauper

**Author's Note:**

> Procrastination drabble that turned into a somewhat full-length fic. Sorry if it's a bit crap.

Gavin Free, the young prince of England, falls in love for the first time on a school trip.

It isn’t really a school trip, considering he doesn’t go to school, and is more of an excuse to get away from the palace for a bit. His project for his personal professor has something to do with leaves and soil. He suggests collecting a sample from another country, and comparing it with the premium imported soil from his own back garden.

His parents quickly agree, although he doubts they were even listening when asked. Being the prince and princess of a country comes with responsibility and public appearances, and not a lot of time for a fifteen-year-old son who isn’t interested in the army or fine arts or music.

Once it’s cleared with the government and the royal secret service and MI5, he hops on a plane with no-one but a few undercover guards and his professor, and heads to America.

He was told to choose any state he wanted. Why he chose New Jersey, he doesn’t know. It was more of a throw-a-few-darts at a map of America plan, rather than a serious one.

New Jersey is a little bleak, but overall warmer than home is, so Gavin doesn’t feel too much like an asshole for slipping on a pair of dark sunglasses as he steps off the private plane.

Americans love the royal family, he knows that, so the longer he can go without being recognised, the better. The American secret service sends him a personal guard too, someone to keep him safe around the city and generally guide him. Gavin expects a stuffy, ex-CIA hard nut in a suit with a few scars and a shaved head. Americans were never very good at being incognito.

Geoff Ramsey, is almost the exact opposite of this. He meets Gavin in the apartment he will stay in for the week, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans with a grey hoodie. He’s got a wicked handlebar moustache that can't be anywhere near regulation, and Gavin can see glimpses of intricate tattoo designs peeking out from under his hoodie-sleeves, and spilling over his hands.

“Hey, I’m Geoff.” He extends a hand.

“Nice to meet you, uh, Geoff…” the name feels wrong in his mouth. Ten years of etiquette lessons teach him to say _Sir,_ to bow formally or expect to be bowed to. He fights the urge, when he sees the kindness in Geoff’s eyes. He accepts the handshake, and smiles. “I’m Gavin.”

“I know who you are.” Geoff smiles. Gavin blushes.

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was just kidding… don’t fire me?”

“Oh god, no! I won't, I promise!”

“…That was another joke. Sorry. I'll stop.”

Gavin feels his cheeks heat up again. “No, wait- sorry, it’s fine. Uh, do you like video games?”

Geoff grins. “Do I _fuck.”_

They bond quickly after the first awkward encounter. Gavin learns the Geoff loves Halo just as much as he does, and is almost as good as him. A lot of the  versus they play are close, but Gavin has that slight edge which comes from a lot of free time and his young reflexes.

Gavin learns that Geoff is ex-army, or military, as they call it in America. Geoff mentions he has a wife and a daughter, but can’t say their names for obvious reasons. He says this casually, and then they keep playing, but Gavin feels a pang in his chest, when he remembers who Geoff really is and who _he_ really is. It doesn’t matter if they’ve just been sitting around getting to know each other and playing video games for a day. They're not really friends. Geoff is paid to hang out with him.

“You okay buddy? You haven’t moved for like, a minute.”

“Shit, sorry.” Gavin snaps back into action, killing the enemy on the screen. Geoff is still looking at him.

“You good?”

“Yeah.” Gavin nods, not looking away from the screen. “I’m good.”

Gavin meets Michael for the first time in a park. It’s his second to last day in America, and he’s enjoyed it more than he thought. He’d spent most of his time playing games with Geoff, trying out American fast food and absorbing the culture. New Jersey isn’t exactly the most diverse city, but it’s a little more exciting than London is, for him.

On the second to last day, he decided to collect some soil so his professor can lie and say he did a good job, and nobody could get into any trouble. Geoff takes him to the park and hangs around on a park bench, pretending to read a magazine. He pulls of undercover surprisingly well, barely glancing in Gavin’s direction for a moment, as he slips off his sunglasses and rests against a tree.

It’s peaceful, for approximately five seconds until a Frisbee hits him in the face.

Gavin clutches his nose and groans, and Geoff looks on red alert, sitting up abruptly. A boy runs over, and Gavin makes a quick hand signal in Geoff’s direction.

_Stand down. I’m fine._

“Shit, sorry dude!” the boy says. Gavin looks up, clutching his sore nose. The boy has wildly curly brown hair, and freckles over his face. He wears a grey hoodie similar to Gavin’s own, with a T-Shirt holding a reference to Banjo Kazooie, making Gavin smile.

“Sorry, I should’ve been more… alert.” Gavin waves him off, handing the Frisbee back. “And I guess I should’ve been born with a smaller nose.”

The boy laughs. “I’m really sorry. Although, you do have a big nose.”

It dawns on Gavin quickly, that this boy has no idea who he is.

And _God_ , it’s beena long while since that happened. The only other time he can think of someone looking into his eyes and not knowing him, was once when he was thirteen, and he bumped into a foreign maid by accident at a politicians house. She scolded him for not looking where he was going in Spanish, (he picked up words here and there).

She had looked right through him, like he was any other boy.

“Don’t talk to His Royal Highness like that!” snapped another cleaner. Immediately, the woman apologized and bowed.

But something told him that this boy wouldn’t do the same.

“Honestly dude, I’m really sorry. Can I make it up to you anyway?”

Gavin smiled. “You could uh… you could sit with me for a bit.” He asked. the boy raised an eyebrow, but sat down anyway. “I’m Gavin, Gavin Free.”

“Michael Jones.” Smiled the boy. “Nice to meet you, Gavin Free.”

He and Michael sat under the tree until the sun went down.

Gavin collected his soil like he needed to, as Michael taught him about ‘Dunkin’ Donuts and the New York Knicks’. They talked about video games and classes in school. Michael talked about his friend Ray from New York, and Gavin made fun of his accent.

“You’re gonna make fun of my fucking accent? Me? Little _Micool?_ ”

They continued for hours. It was odd, to Gavin, to click with someone so easily and so quickly. Everything about Michael enchanted him.

If Gavin could’ve had his way, then he would’ve sat there, under that tree with the Jersey boy by his side forever.

But then, Geoff texted him.

“Sorry.” Gavin sighed, looking at his phone. “I’ve gotta go. But… you’ve got my gamertag, right? We can still talk and stuff?”

“Yeah, but uh- am… am I ever gonna see you again?” Michael asked. Gavin’s heart skipped a little as he heard the uncertainty in Michael’s voice.

Gavin swallowed. “I’m… I’m going home tomorrow but… I'll meet you here. Ten am. To say goodbye, yeah?” he asked, standing. Michael nodded, standing up too.

“I'll be here.”

And he was. Geoff let him go, lurking around by the bench whilst Gain ran over to the tree, where Michael was waiting.

“Take this.” Michael said. “I remembered you talking about Minecraft, and on my way home, I saw them in a store. It’s stupid but…”

“ _Michael_.” Gavin cooed, holding the thin chain with the creeper pendant on it. “I love it.”

“I got one for me too. It’s a diamond sword, so we kind of match, I guess. To remember each other by?”

“Yeah.” Gavin grinned. He anxiously glanced passed Michael, to Geoff, who tapped his watch. It was time.

“I’ve… I’ve really got to go Michael. I’m so sorry I-”

“Can I kiss you?” Michael asked quickly. Gavin went silent, and blushed.

“Sorry! Forget I said-”

Gavin lurched forwards, connecting his and Michael’s lips for a brief two seconds. He didn't say it was his first kiss. Michael said nothing either, because before he had a chance too, Gavin was already gone, running out of the park without daring to look back.

At first it feels like one of those shitty movies, where two people meet as kids and never speak again until they're twenty. Gavin misses Michael already, and occasionally touches his fingers to his own lips.

He’d had his first kiss, in a park in New Jersey, with an American boy he hardly knew. It felt good to be somewhat normal

He wonders if Michael will ever speak to him again, or if they really are just going through the plot of a shitty teen movie. He’ll see Michael in America when they’re both thirty and married, but they’ll fall back in love.

 _Is it love?_ Gavin thinks to himself. _Can_ a person fall in love with someone they’ve only known half a day?

But as he hold the creeper on the necklace, rolling it between his fingers, Gavin decides yes, you probably _can_.

But the real world never works that way, he learns, noticing the Xbox live request from _MLP_ _MICHAEL_ the day he lands. Time difference is a bitch, so he and Michael usually talk, for Gavin, late at night because he has nothing better to do. Neither of them mention the kiss. They don’t have to.

So maybe it isn’t _love_ but it’s certainly a friendship. They play together; they talk every day, every spare moment from Michael IM-ing him with his mobile phone in lessons to Gavin, whispering into his mic so he can talk over skype to Michael in the dark.

“I miss you.” Michael will say often. “It’s weird, we only met for a day but… I do really miss you. You’re pretty cool, for a British prick.”

“I miss you too Michael! I'll visit when I can, promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Michael jokes. Gavin grins, and holds his little finger up to the camera, Michael does the same, and they bend them at the same time.

“Right, you better fucking visit then.” Michael says. “I take my pinkie promises very seriously.”

Things are pretty good for a few weeks after that. They continue to learn about each other, from their favourite foods ( _Whoat the fuck is toad in the hole? Why do you say pie instead of pizza, you lunatic?)_ to their favourite TV shows ( _Only who’s and horses? What the fuck is that? Well, what the bloody hell is Seinfeld?)_

It goes on for so long, that Gavin can't actually imagine going a day or even longer without talking to Michael. The Jersey boy with the fiery temper who still doesn’t know who he is.

Gavin wants to feel bad for hiding his heritage, but he revels in being selfish, and allowing himself to be appreciated for who he really is.

And it lasts, for a while.

He and Michaels first fight, starts off to Gavin, as a mystery. Michael is online, but won't accept his Minecraft invitation. He won't answer Gavin’s skype calls or his IM messages, and Gavin really doesn’t know what’s so wrong.

The only reply he receives, is a link to an article a week later.

**Prince Gavin Free, of England spotted out on a secret trip to New Jersey earlier this year. Sources say the trip was completely authorised, but one can't help but wonder if this is the young princes own way of rebelling against the crown he rules under.**

_GavinoFree: - Michael, I’m really sorry. I should’ve told you._

**_MogarJones:- Yeah, damn right you fucking should’ve told me. I'm sorry I'm not fukcing important enough or upper class enough to dare fucking know about you're royal status._ **

_GavinoFree:- It isn’t like that …_

**_MogarJones:- Oh yeah, then what’s it like?_ **

_GavinoFree:- I hate it here. I hate being recognised everywhere and having to live in such a stupid poxy image. I fucking hate it._

**_MogarJones:- boo-freaking-hoo, forgive me if the boy who still uses foodstamps doesn’t feel sorry for probably the most privileged kid on the planet._ **

_GavinoFree:- Michael- I didn't tell you because it was nice to have someone, for once, who didn't treat me like royalty. Who isn’t afraid to call me and asshole and an idiot, and genuinely wants to be my friend for who I am. I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want things to change. I really like you Michael._

**_MogarJones:- Fuck, I really like you too Gavin, you know that. Just don’t lie to me._ **

_Gavino Free: I won't, Michael, I swear, I'll never lie to you again._

**_MogarJones:- Alright. This does explain a lot of shit tho, like how you never go to school, and how you never talk about your parents._ **

_GavinoFree:- Yeha, ha-ha. Are we bois again, Michael?_

**_MogarJones:- Yeah, course we are <3 TND, right?_ **

_GavinoFree:- Course boi <3_

_GavinoFree:- I’m still honouring my pinkie swear to come visit, even if I have to secretly flee the country <3_

**_MogarJones:- That would be awesome, but please don’t get into any trouble Gav. Not for me <3_ **

_GavinoFree:- You’re worth it <3_

**_MogarJones:- I’m really not <3_ **

_GavinoFree:- I hate it here. Everything is so shite. <3_

**_MogarJones:- Lol. You could always run away, if it wouldn’t cause too much of an international incident. <3_ **

_GavinoFree:- As long as you’d give me a place to stay, I wouldn’t mind <3_

**_MogarJones:- Anytime <3_ **

Michael does not expect Gavin to take his advice. Michael does not expect Gavin, to turn up at his door wearing dark sunglasses and a backpack, with his head shaved and a wide grin on his face, creeper pendant a dazzling green against his white shirt.

“You fucking didn't.” Michael mutters.

“Surprise?” Gavin tried.

_“Michael, who is that?”_

“Easy mom, It’s just a friend.” Michael glares at Gavin. “He’s staying over… for a few days.”

_“Don’t make too much noise.”_

“You’re mum’s pretty cool.” Gavin says, resting his bag down on Michael’s bed after being led upstairs. “You’re rooms nice too.” He looks around, admiring the posters decorating Michael’s walls. “It isn’t the palace, but it’ll do.” he jokes.

“I can't believe you're here.” Michael runs his hands through his hair anxiously.

“Me neither!” Gavin grins, launching towards Michael and hugging him tightly. Michael hugs back of course, burying his face in Gavin’s neck. “I almost pussied out, but then suddenly I was shaving my head in an airport bathroom and switching out my clothes.”

“Shit.” Michael breathes, sitting down with Gavin on the bed. “Shit. Am I gonna be arrested?”

“Nah. I was careful. We’ve got time. Your mum won't get suspicious, will she? If I end up on telly?”

“I doubt she’ll notice. She only watches reality TV, and goes out most nights.” Right on cue the front door slams. “There she goes now. She’ll be back Monday, probably.”

“But… today’s Friday.” Gavin points out.

“I know.” Michael sighs. “You got any money?”

“I didn't want anything to show up on my bank statement, so I just have cash, unfortunately. I changed it up on my way here though.”

“How much?” Michael asks.

“Ten thousand.”

“ _Ten fucking grand?”_ Michael asks. “In _cash_?!”

“You want to order pizza then?”

They eat pizza and drink coca-cola until their stomachs ache, and at around midnight, they both say fuck it and climb into Michael’s single bed together. Gavin doesn’t mind being pressed against the wall a little if it means he can be pressed up tightly against Michael.

For a while, they are good. They don’t kiss again until after four days of calm. Gavin imagines himself living in New Jersey, with Michael forever. He hasn’t heard a single thing about his disappearance.

Maybe, he wistfully thinks, nobody has noticed.

It’s in the dead of the night when Michael’s mother walks out the door again, that Gavin cups Michael’s face gently and kisses it. Gavin’s lips are soft and gently but Michael’s are roughed and chapped. He pushes back against Gavin, pushing him down onto the bed.

Gavin sees the night through with his virginity still intact, but still has the pleasant feeling of _release_ as he sprawls out on top of Michael.

“I love you, Michael.” He whispers.

“I love you too, Gavin.”

Things carry on well after that. The cross into a new aspect of their relationship is almost unnoticeable. Nothing has changed, except for the contact. Gavin can't not be touching Michael, ever. They haven’t seen Michael’s mother in over a week, which is worrying, but Michael allows Gavin to distract him.

It all goes well until Gavin sees his face on the TV.

_“…And official reports from the palace have confirmed that Gavin Free, Britain’s teenage prince, is missing. His Royal Highness hasn’t been seen in several days, and his family, along with the nation, are growing increasingly worried…”_

Gavin turns the television off. Michael sighs.

“You’ve got to go back.” He says. Gavin knows this, of course, but shakes his head as if the say no, sitting up against Michael’s headboard and resting his head at his knees.

“Gavin.” Michael sits in front of him, rubbing his hand through the scratchy stubble on Gavin’s head. “We both knew this was never gonna be forever.” Gavin sighs, allowing himself to lean into Michael’s touch.

“It isn’t fair.” He mumbles.

“I know, baby. I know.”

The phone-call to Geoff is difficult.

“Yeah, its number forty two… Don’t break the door or anything, I'll answer. You can't come in Geoff…. I know, but I don’t want him to get in trouble... I can't- that won't happen... Keep it between us, Geoff, please?... _Treason?_ That’s a bit much don’t you think? Make something up, maybe? I'll take the heat, Geoff, I swear… No, this was my fault. I’m the one who has to deal with it… Yeah… Yeah I know…. Okay… Thank you… I owe you, forever... Two hours? Oh god, okay. I'll be ready. I’m so sorry. Bye.”

They spend their last minutes in the only way two teenage boys can. They play Xbox. Michael kisses Gavin hard when the round finishes. Gavin cries and Michael does too. They both know they can't stay in contact, not after this. It’s too risky, for both of them.

Michael watches through his upstairs window as Gavin disappears into a windowless car. Although he can't see it, he can feel Gavin looking up at him through what must be one way glass.

He rests his palm against the window. Gavin does the same.

Once the car disappears down the street, Michael steps away from the window he looks to his bed, where Gavin's green creeper necklace lies. Gavin himself, sits in the back of the car, fondling Michael’s diamond sword. Even if they can't speak, can't communicate in any way, they’ll still have this. They’ll always have a link.

There's hell to pay when he returns home. He doubts he’ll ever be let outside again. The media chats shit about him almost as much as his own family does, and he end up shipped off to a boarding school outside of London. It’s quiet, but it does what it needs to do. Keeps him out of sight, out of mind. People start to forget. True lovers of the crown remember, but everyone else forgets. Someone will mention it in passing conversation in a bar, laugh with their friends as Gavin sits behind them, sunglasses on as he nurses a beer with Geoff.

He started looking at Geoff as more of a real friend after he was fired.

He doesn’t talk about _him,_ he never does. Geoff doesn’t ask. Gavin’s done his crying and his whinging. He did years of it in boarding school, with nobody to listen to him than a boy named Dan who shared a room with him.

Dan’s a good friend too, and probably more the type that his parents tolerate. Dan’s sweet, maybe a little rough around the edges, but means well. They become good friends, until Dan leaves to join the army.

They still skype, occasionally.

Gavin's studies cinema in university, another thing that his parents disagree with. But, it keeps him out of trouble. He still gets special treatment, and he still hates it, but what can he do? Refuse a good grade? Force people to be rude to him?

It’s much easier to keep his head down.

He’s sitting in the middle of a small area of green in the centre of London, underneath a tree sketching loosely in his book when a shadow shields his sunlight.

“Excuse me mate, but do you think you cou-”

Gavin looks up.

_“Gavin…”_

_“Michael?”_

Gavin scrambles to his feet. Michael is taller, but he’s still an inch shorter than Gavin. His hair is shorter, but still curls. His freckles have faded, but they're still present.

Gavin is so tall that he’s _lanky_ and as he slips off his sunglasses, Michael can see that his eyes are the same beautiful green they always were. His hair has grown back, and stands up on end.

Nervously, Gavin reaches under his shirt, and pulls out the necklace. Michael does the same.

“I guess it did end in a cliché.” Michael comments. Gavin splutters out a grin.

“Yeah… uh, I guess it did.”

“So… what do we… what do we do now?” Michael asks awkwardly.

“I-I don’t know. I usually turned the film off at this point, to be honest.”

“Me too.” Michael laughs. “I guess, uh-”

“-Can I kiss you?” Gavin interrupts. Michael blushes, but smiles.

“We’re in public. Aren’t you scared about getting caught?” he asks. Gavin shrugs.

“I think you deserve in exception.” Gavin grins, before he leans forwards, grabbing Michael’s face and pressing their lips together. Gavin isn’t as soft as he used to be, and Michael is nowhere near as rough or hasty, as his arms softly slink around Gavin’s waist, and Gavin’s settle around his shoulder.

They could go on kissing for hours, but eventually, they both need air. Gavin rests his forehead against Michaels.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“How quick until that makes it in the paper, d’you reckon?” Gavin asks. Michael laughs, releasing Gavin. “They’re probably writing the article now. ‘Rebel Prince, makes out with street rat in park.’ – see, shit writes itself!”

Gavin reaches forwards, linking his fingers with Michaels. He leans down and picks up is sketchpad. “Let ‘em write. I’m pretty sure my family have been waiting to disown me for a while, this’ll probably give them an excuse.” He shrugs. “Wanna head back to mine for a catch up?”

“Sure.” Michael smiles. “I’d _love_ that.”

Of course, there’s hell to pay when a thousand calls come through to his phone from his parents and relatives and editors of newspapers. Michael takes his phone and tosses it out of the window, the two watching as it hits the ground with a satisfying smash.

They reconnect, learning not only what they’d missed in each other the first time around, but also the map of their bodies, what feels right and what doesn’t, and quickly, they fit together like they were never meant to part.

Gavin lights up a cigarette afterwards, and Michael pouts.

“Really? You’re smoking now too? You really do want the public to hate you.” he says. Gavin rolls his eyes.

“Trust me, boi… I don’t think I'll be called to any kind of press activity anytime soon.”

On cue, the door busts open. Michael instinctively jumps under the duvet covers whilst Gavin just laughs as one of his advisors walks in with a face like thunder. Soon, Michael sees the joke, and crawls back up.

“You’ll never be King now, Gavin, I hope you know that.” His father says to him, sitting across from him in the meeting room. Gavin sighs, and a small part of him does feel sad, and guilty.

But he’s got to be _real_. He could never be fake.

“I’m sorry, dad, I really am… but I love him. I’ve loved him since I was fucking fifteen years old. That’s never gonna change.”

The media has a lot of fun reporting about him for months afterwards. Gavin and Michael lay low, hiding out in their little apartment. Michael switches from engineering to Video Game development at university, whereas Gavin drops out altogether. He can never get a normal job, so why get a degree anyway?

His family don’t cut him off completely, just feed him a large sum every now and then. He can get by, with more than a little extra. Instead of saving up for  a house, he spends one months allowance on Michael’s diamond sword pendant, getting him a gold chain and putting a real diamond along the sword for their first anniversary.

It seems that Michael had the same idea, when he hands Gavin the green creeper pendant with the tiniest emerald in the middle.

“Sorry, it’s not much but-”

“I love it.” Gavin smiles, holding it to his chest. “I love _you_ Michael.”

“Yeah,” Michael grins. “I love you too.”

“Pinkie swear?” Gavin asks.

“Pinkie _promise.”_ Michael agrees, holding out his finger. Gavin does the same, and the two lock together, the fluttering of a pulse between them.

“I hope you know you're stuck with me now,” Gavin says. “You're the boy who ruined the prince of England. There’s no getting away from that.”

“Don’t worry,” Michael laughs. “I think I can live with it.”

**Author's Note:**

> GTA Guns N' Roses sequel is almost finished, so I should be posting the first chapter very soon. I would've had it done by now, but after Monty, i fell into a lull for a few days where I simply couldn't write. I'm a big fan of RWBY and RVB, and he will be missed.
> 
> RIP Monty <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Prince and the Pauper [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631059) by [Sandstripe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandstripe/pseuds/Sandstripe)




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